Hello, weekend! Hopefully all of you NHL fans enjoyed the all star layoff and are ready to get back to some DFS goodness! At the very least, I will not be dressing up as our underdog namesake Happy Gilmore and skating around my office while I type this out. (Poor Pasta).
Speaking of Poor Pasta, after I punched up the rough outline for today’s names I realized that we had more than a few double lettered names. Alliteration station, indeed!
We’ll go with our goalie here as the main focus. I was all set to run with an alliterative goalie, Matt Murray, and even spoke to his newfound health in his Leafs renaissance…then apparently reality set in and Murray was placed on the IR on Thursday with an ankle injury. Ouch. Literally.
We could have gone with Vitek Vanecek to fit with our alliteration theme, but in the end the pivot is going to be Connor Hellebuyck (DK: $8,500) and the Jets at home to the Blackhawks. In the words of a classic Canadian icon (Ricky) from the East coast’s most educational television program (Trailer Park Boys), this selection isn’t exactly “rocket appliances”. It’s the most sensible chalk pick of the day.
Saturday’s specific slate looks a bit different than it has in past weekends with 14 games overall, but just 7 that start after 7:00 PM ET. We’ll look at some names from that main group of games to fill a $50,000 DraftKings classic lineup that has a good shot at paying out in double ups or tournaments.
Let’s get to it!
C – Filip Chytil , DK: $5,200 – Talk about leading off with a skater that’s on an absolute heater. Filip Chytil has been a man possessed and is riding a five game goal scoring streak with 7G, 1A in his last five games. It doesn’t look like it’s enough to push him to the top six, but his third line slot between Lafreniere and one of our winger picks below has been providing some strong secondary scoring for a surging Rangers squad. PP2 time should be the very least of the guarantees today, too.
C – John Tavares, DK: $7,200 – I had Max Domi written up here, but had to switch some things around when Matt Murray went down. When we ended up with a BIG chunk of dollars left over, the sensible switch was to a second superstar at the C spot. Jack Hughes and Auston Matthews are both hurt, so Tavares at home to a crummy Columbus club is the best move for us here. Leaving out the Bruins game, (how many times have Leaf fans said that in the last 10 years?!), Tavares has averaged 21.95 FPTS in his last four games. It could be a fantasy feast for him today.
W – Brandon Saad, DK: $4,200 – I was going to go with Tarasenko here. I figured he’d be a bargain after coming back from a lengthy injury absence. Then I checked his recent production. 0G, 0A, -5 in his first four games back. Woof. Let’s roll the dice on his more affordable teammate, Brandon Saad. As…um…unhappy as the Blues have been this year, Saad at least is getting top line minutes and PP1 time with some talented forwards. His last 10GP have been as empty as Tarasenko’s, but our choices are limited today. At the very least, the double A is a bit of a cheat for our alliteration too.
*EDIT* – I wrote this up minutes before Tarasenko was dealt to the New York Rangers. He is supposed to play Friday evening against Seattle, so I can see getting back in on him if we have the space.
W – Patrick Kane, DK: $6,000 – Could you imagine the Sabres making a move for this guy at the deadline? It’s been discussed in Buffalo pretty much since his rookie year, but Kane is officially on the trade block. Chicago is all but certain to move him at or before the March 3rd deadline. The top tier goal scoring doesn’t look like it’s there this year, but he has 5 PTS in his last 4 GP. He should be motivated to keep pumping up those numbers over the next couple of weeks.
W – Kaapo Kakko, DK: $3,400 – Another alliteration here, and firmly in a winger spot today because of his blazing hot pivot. Kakko is riding the right side on Chytil’s third line for even strength time. 5 PTS in his last 4 GP is identical to the winger above him here, and he should at least get some opportunities for regular minutes (and PP time) against a strong Hurricanes club.
D – Brady Skjei, DK: $4,100 – Besides being a name that you have to spell check about 8X, (trust me on this one), Skjei ticks off two of the three boxes we usually look for in a defenseman. He’s getting minutes on the top pairing for even strength. He’s also slotted in with four other skilled forwards on PP1. Recent production is usually the most important and final box to check off. Skjei only has four of his 23 PTS on the season over his last 10 games, so we have to hope he can catch some of that new Tarasenko magic on the powerplay tonight.
D – JJ Moser, DK: $3,200 – Again, this is more of a pick because of PP1 time alongside a much more productive, (and expensive) powerplay partner in Jacob Chychrun. This pick is more about the price tag than the recent point production, but his hits, blocks and shots per game over the last 10 should at least give us a good chance of avoiding a zero in FPTS.
UTIL – Karson Kuhlman, DK: $2,500 – Another K.K. for our UTIL today! Kuhlman has bounced around a bit since being tabbed as a promising prospect with the Bruins. This pick is more about his recent promotion to line 1 (up from line 3). Skating with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor in 5-on-5 time is never a bad thing. With the Jets facing a weak Blackhawks team at home, K.K. (part two) should have some good chances to put up some counting stats.
Even with all of the late night edits, we still came in at $44,300! Feel free to switch out Saad for Tarasenko ($4,500) and even move one K.K. for another – Kirill Kaprizov ($7,800) – if you wish. It would still leave us with $100 remaining.
Here’s the three moneyline picks for the week too…
The Sea Bass : (Favorite)
The Patrick Kane pick above seems a bit counter-intuitive to this today, but I’m pretty confident that Winnipeg (-330) at home vs. Chicago (+275) is as strong a choice as the Leafs (-300) hosting the Blue Jackets (+250).
The Happy Gilmore : (Underdog)
It sounds pretty nutters to take Arizona (+155) against almost anyone these days, but the desert dogs have been getting big games out of Chychrun and Vejmelka and the Blues (-180) are winless in their last five.
The Claude Lemieux : (Turtle/Flop)
New Jersey (+100) is 8-1-1 in their last ten games and sits tied with the Leafs for third in the league at 70 points. They could just as easily have been a favorite today but the Devils are heading to Minnesota (-120). At home, the Wild are 15-8-0-1. That alone makes me think twice about this one.
That’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below or give me a shout @MarmosDad.
